Tag: Interview

Author Interview – Saffron Amatti

Paranormal Mystery Author

It’s time to meet author, Ligia de Wit and find out about her writing journey and her book Seven Hundred Beachfront.

Helen: Welcome, Saffron. It’s wonderful to have you on my blog. I’m looking forward to hearing more about what you’ve been working on since we last spoke. Tell is about your latest book.

Saffron: My most recently published book is Dripping Poison, book 3 in the Beyond The Veil Detectives series. 
It’s December 1929, and four young private investigators have been summoned by a dead man to a remote manor in the heart of the snow-blanketed English countryside. Before dinner, they’re forced to attend a seance that isn’t all it seems…And after dinner, someone is dead. 
Snowed in with a killer, the sleuths must now not only solve the mystery that brought them to Wilmott Manor, but they must now catch whoever is murdering his family one by one. 

Helen: I love your characters, so I am sure this is amazing. What were your thoughts behind you cover?

Saffron: So, I design all my covers myself (art classes finally coming in handy!) and I can probably go into far more detail than you could ever actually want. 
But essentially, I keep the same format across the covers for the series – the dark Art Deco-patterned background, the central image, the fonts and overall layout – to keep the covers cohesive. Then, I change the image (in this case, a rose) to something relevant to the story, and pick a bright contrasting accent colour. If I can squeeze a skull or a bloodstain or something similarly macabre in there too, so much the better! Anything to indicate it’s a murder mystery when someone is scrolling by.

Helen: You are so clever designing the covers yourself. How did you come up with the title?

Saffron: Dripping Poison is a book that was written for a title. Basically, I thought it sounded like a book title I’d pick up, and wrote something to fit! 

Helen: It certainly sounds deadly! And suits your series. What made you write this particular book?

Saffron: Though the book could’ve gone in various directions, a major and perhaps unexpected theme is faking paranormal activity. Which wasn’t something I planned specifically for this book, but a few years ago, the local reader/writer group I’m part of asked me to write a murder mystery evening for our Christmas party. 
Me being me, I couldn’t resist putting ghosts in it – but I didn’t want it to relate to my books, so I created a fake seance (and slightly unnerved some of my fellow players because I didn’t write a script, just handed out character sheets and instructions to have fun improvising, and maaaaaybe accidentally-on-purpose didn’t tell everyone about the “ghosts” thing. Sorry, guys!) 
However, I loved the idea of dropping a real psychic medium (like my character, Lucas Rathbone) into a totally fake séance with lots of “paranormal” activity, and seeing what happened, so I found a place for it in Dripping Poison.

Helen: I always feel so sorry for Lucas. You are always dropping him into difficult situations! When did you first realise you had a passion for writing?

Saffron: Oh, gosh, I didn’t really. I sort of fell into it by accident. I basically thought of a story I wanted to read and wrote it, then wrote nothing for a couple of years until I thought of another story I wanted to read. Now I just keep on doing that, though I’m slightly more proactive about finding the stories nowadays!

Helen: Nice, that’s a very relaxed process. No pressure is good! Which element of the writing process do you find most challenging and why?

Saffron: Usually I’d say editing, but currently, I have an outline that’s refusing to be finished. I know what happens at the end of the book. I know whodunit, whydunnit, howdunnit, and all the red herrings and twists we’ll come across on the way to solving the murders. But the exact order of things is refusing to be pinned down. 

Helen: Timelines can be the most challenging. The order in which things happen is really important and frustrating to get right! Talking about timelines, who first inspired you to write?

Um… whoever wrote the three or four really awful mysteries I read back-to-back before I decided enough was enough and I should write my own book?!
Partially because I didn’t think it was altogether fair to criticise people’s efforts in something I’d never done, but mostly because I figured I couldn’t do any worse!
I wouldn’t name and shame them, though, even if I could remember the books.

Helen: What a great reason to start writing. I’m so glad you did! Tell us about the genre write and why you chose it.

Saffron: I write historical murder mysteries with a paranormal twist. Or, paranormal mysteries set in the past, if you prefer. It’s been several years, and a dozen published books, and I still don’t know how best to describe them!

I grew up watching TV programs like Poirot, Midsomer Murders, and Jonathan Creek, so I guess murder mysteries are something I’m familiar with and felt like a natural fit. I’m also a bit of a history nerd, so again, it just felt natural to set my books in the past! Plus, the 1920s are a classic era for the kind of books I wanted to write.

As for having a psychic sleuth, I’ve been interested in the paranormal since I was a kid, and having a detective who could speak to the murder victims seemed interesting to me!

Helen: What is the best thing that has happened to you since you began writing?

Saffron: Finding a community of writers, especially on Instagram. Right from the start, they’ve been so welcoming, so generous, so supportive, and so all-round lovely. I’ve made real friendships, found help when I’ve needed it (and given help in return, which is truly an honour), and people who truly get how wonderful, frustrating, joyous, heart-wrenching, and magnificently challenging writing and publishing is. 

Helen: The support of the writing community is so important to new writers, and the contined support is inspiring. What is one of the most useful resources you use when writing?

Saffron: I draft in an online writing program called 4 The Words, which has gamified writing sprints into an RPG where you battle monsters by writing a certain amount of words in a set time. Very useful for keeping scatterbrained people like me focused! 

Helen: That sounds like so much fun and a great way to get words down on paper!! What a great resource to help people focus. How do you get the ideas for a new book?

Saffron: Generally, by stumbling across something interesting and idly wondering how it could be used to kill someone! I then figure out who would use something like that, who they would kill, why they’d kill that person in particular, and why the ghost wouldn’t just tell Lucas who killed them.

Helen: You always make it so difficult for Lucas. Lol! What are you doing to him next? Tell us about your current WIP.

Saffron: Hanged By Silk is the fourth book in the Beyond The Veil Detectives series, and much like the last one, is being written because I thought it was a good title for a book!  (In case you’re wondering, apparently the English aristocracy could, if sentenced to hang, request a rope made from silk. This has no bearing on the story, though!)

It’s taking place in London just before Christmas 1929, and my team of four private investigators have split up to investigate two very different cases: one, the trade in fake antiquities, and the other, the murder of a young woman at a ritzy teetotal club. 

Lucas, as the psychic medium on the team, thinks he ought to drop the antiquities case that’s boring him to tears and switch to the murder – but his wife and their friend Tommy want to prove their sleuthing prowess without supernatural help. So, Lucas is stuck on the deadly dull case with Tommy’s husband, Noah, and fretting about the woman he loves confronting dangerous killers, when…

When he steps into a junk shop and is overwhelmed with a feeling of dread, like something evil lurks in the shadows, watching him with curiosity, wondering what he is and how it can use him. He’s felt this once before, right at the start of the book, when a witch helping him understand his hated “Gift” hands him a necromancer’s notebook, and it makes his skin crawl. 

Unwilling to let things that feel like… that stay out in the world where anyone could find them, Lucas and Noah start trying to find these objects. But when their investigation leads them back to the murder their spouses are untangling, perhaps it’s better the two groups join forces after all…

Helen: I know Lucas is your protagonist. Why did you write her/him?

Saffron: Lucas Rathbone arrived, unbidden and unnamed, in my head somewhere around the end of 2018, then spent six months nagging me to write his story. I do it mostly to shut him up, to be honest. No, I jest. Well, not entirely – the nagging really happened – however, I really just loved the idea of a psychic sleuth, particularly one who didn’t embrace their “Gift” but used it anyway, because it’s the right thing to do.

Helen: If Lucas could answer, why would he say we should read your book?

Saffron: “For the love of God, please don’t read it. I hate the attention, and Saffron only ever writes about the worst, most difficult parts of my life. She’s not as funny as she thinks she is, either.”

I’m so grateful for his help…

Helen: You guys have this love-hate relationship. It’s so funny to watch. Moving on to the business of writing. What is the most useful piece of writing advice you’ve received, and by whom?

Saffron: My friend, DP Haka, told me to make a cup of coffee and imagine sitting down with my character and talking to them as if they were someone I was meeting for the first time.

I fear this may have led Lucas to think he ought to be treated as an equal partner in this whole writing malarkey. However, as a comment I frequently get about Lucas is that he feels like an old friend, perhaps that’s a deal I can live with.

Helen: Every writer experiences self-doubt. How do you overcome the fear and the little doubting voice in your head to keep writing?

Saffron: So. The long answer is:

I’ve always been “arty”, and through school, college, and university, took whatever creative courses seemed fun. And anyone who says the creative arts are a “soft option” has clearly never been on one of these courses (at least, not with the lecturers I got), because every damn week you pour your heart and soul into something, only for someone to critique the living daylights out of it – sometimes in front of your peers – then tell you to go away and do it again for next week.

At which point, they’ll tear that apart, too. But if you want to pass your course – and I’m too stubborn to give in when I probably should – you must do it.  If this sounds rough, it is. It destroys any confidence you ever had, but you have two options: either stay destroyed, or pick up your shattered ego and reform it into something new, preferably retrieving whatever gold may have been buried in the “constructive” criticism you’ve just endured.

It might take a lot of time and effort, it’ll never return to how it was before, and it’ll crack again with every harsh word you get about your work, but if you don’t pick yourself up again, that little creative spark, the thing that drove you to make something in the first place, will die forever. And whoever said you weren’t good enough will be right. 

So, for me, that little voice in my head got bricked up behind the pieces of my broken heart a long, long time ago, and I can barely hear it any more. If I do, I tell it it’s wrong, because I win. They don’t.

The short answer is spite.

Helen: As a writer you have to accept that not everyone will like your work. It’s those that love it that you need to listen to. My reader’s support is what keeps me writing more. Let’s chat about your writing proocess. How do you fit your writing into your everyday life?

Saffron: I’m very lucky that I generally have a chunk of time every day to write in, so fitting it in isn’t much of a problem (having no kids, no social life, and no TV helps a lot!). But when I am too busy to get to the laptop and write for a decent amount of time, I have a Bluetooth keyboard that links to my phone. I can get set up to write in seconds, can put everything away again almost instantly, and write wherever I am.

Helen: Do you listen to music when you write, if so, what do you listen to and why?

Saffron: I listen to the soundtrack from the Monster Hunter World game, because it’s mostly epic orchestral music without lyrics. I’m also very familiar with it all, so it helps me block out the world/keeps my brain busy without being distractingly new!

Helen: As you write a period novel, how much research do you do for each book?

Saffron: As much as needs doing! Sometimes, if I’m pretty familiar with everything involved, it’s barely any – just a few things here and there to check I’ve remembered correctly. But other times, when I’ve had an idea and don’t reeeeally know how to implement it, research can take three times as long as writing. Usually, it’s somewhere in between.

Helen: Are you a pantser or a planner? Do you write free form, or do you have a framework you stick to?

Saffron: Kinda both. I do a lot of brainstorming for my books, and then once I think I know what’s going to happen, I’ll pants the outline. In fact, I usually pants it several times, getting in a horrible tangle along the way. However, I figure that, going back to the Terry Pratchett quote earlier, this is a quicker way of telling myself the story than trying to get the entire thing out of my head in something resembling a book. It’s also much quicker to add something to an outline than it is to a full draft. I’ve done that before, and these things have a habit of having knock-on effects throughout the book.

Once I’m happy with an outline, I’ll tidy it up into bullet points for each scene, which I stick pretty closely to.

Helen: Do you ever encounter writer’s block? If you do, what do you do to overcome it?

Saffron: Take a break. For me, it generally means something in a scene isn’t working, and I need to step back and do something else for a while. The problem usually works itself out whilst I’m not thinking about it, or I come back with a fresh set of eyes that can see where the issue is.

Helen: I agree, sometimes it’s better to just let the back brain noodle on it for a while, and then when you go to sleep, the answer comes to you. Or it does for me. Who is your favourite character from your book?

Saffron: Ooh, tough question! I love them all, but Tommy has the most interesting backstory, and honestly, he throws the most curveballs, as you’ll see later. Keeps things interesting… even if I sometimes wish he’d just finish a scene the way I planned it!

Helen: I think Tommy grew on everyone. If you didn’t write mystery then which genre would you like to try and write in next?

Saffron: Funny story, I nearly didn’t write mystery at all!

Before I started writing Lucas and co, I kicked around a couple of other ideas. One was a kid’s mystery series, another was a near-future sci-fi, but the one I actually started writing was a time travel alt-history set in WW2 Germany.

But there was too much research I didn’t want to do. Sci-fi isn’t a genre I’m super familiar with, certainly not the time travel subgenre, but I know the fanbase love their details to be precise. Similarly, WW2 German isn’t a period of history I know much about (I hate military history of any kind, but particularly the World Wars) but I can’t fudge details because there are plenty of people out there who love all that stuff and know every single tiny thing about the war.

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t work without time-travelling Nazis, so I ditched that and invented a cute village in 1920s England instead, so no one could tell me I’d got something wrong about a real place.

Then my characters ended up in London, but we won’t talk about that.

Helen: I’m so glad you ended up in the twenties! It would have been a great shame to have never met Lucas and the crew. Most authors read a lot. Do you have a favourite book? Tell us why you like it so much?

Saffron: Oh, this is a tough one. Currently, it’s probably – and please don’t take this as a recommendation to read it, because it isn’t – Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh.

I actually picked it up as research and without knowing much about it, other than it was a (probably) semi-biographical book set in 1920s England with a bisexual male main character who has a same-sex relationship.

My character Tommy is a bisexual man living in 1920s England who is in a same-sex relationship, so I thought – brilliant. This is literally perfect for retroactively researching something I never planned for, because Tommy kinda neglected to mention he likes boys when he crash-landed in my first book, then took one look at Noah in book 6 and went “that one”, despite me having invented a nice girl for him to marry instead. This is what I meant earlier about curveballs, and this isn’t even the curviest one he’s thrown me.

Incidentally, I expected the same-sex romance in Brideshead Revisited to be more “read between the lines,” but nope. It was obvious Charles and Sebastian were a couple. What’s even more interesting is other characters clearly knew about their relationship too, but often seemed accepting of it. Totally unexpected, especially as the book was first published in 1945, a couple of decades before homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK. Anyway, I went into it expecting something fluffy and light-hearted about the upper classes. Kinda like Jeeves and Wooster, but a romance instead of a comedy. And for a good chunk of the book, it was charming, heart-warming romance, albeit with a dark undercurrent.

However, the reason I DON’T recommend Brideshead Revisited to just anyone is because it lures you in with this darling romance between two sweet young men, and – spoiler alert – then utterly destroys their lives. It’s beautifully written, completely compelling, bold, brave, unexpected, and absolutely something that SHOULD be read, but it’s still bleaker than a Bronte novel read in a leaky bus stop on a grey day in November when you’ve stepped in a puddle with leaky shoes.

Not something to be read if you’re feeling down, basically. And I think it’s important to point this out, because it completely floored me, and it’s fantastically written. But how I wish I’d known what I was getting myself into… Oh, heavy Catholic themes too, so if that’s a trigger for anyone, give this a wide berth. Anyway. My favourite book was heavier than I expected, and I loved it.

Helen: What are some of the books you read recently that you would recommend to others?

Saffron: I’ve just finished Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett, and had forgotten just how good it was. 

I seem to be into re-reading at the moment, actually, as I’ve just re-read The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie, which again, very good. I’m a huge fan of the Jeeves and Wooster books, so always recommend those. 

Not such recent reads, but Love Habit by TL Clark was one of my favourites from last year, and Raven Song by Jennifer Brasington-Crowley is excellent, and When We Were Out Of The Ordinary by Elen Chase is gorgeous. Having always said I hate romances, it’s quite surprising to find myself recommending three of them!

Helen: It’s been a pleasure chatting with you, Saffron. Thank you so much for sharing your journey. Just to close us out, what advice would you give new writers?

Saffron: Just do it. Don’t think too hard about it, don’t second-guess yourself, and don’t, whatever you do, edit as you go. Get everything out of your head, then come back to fix it later.

You’ll think it’s absolutely awful and want to consign it to the bin immediately – but remember every book you love has been edited a dozen times or more, and didn’t go to print the second the author wrote “the end.”

Your favourite author also looked at something resembling word salad, probably cried a bit, and then rolled up their sleeves to form the clay they’d just created into a beautiful object they were proud of. 

There’s a quote from Terry Pratchett that says “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story,” and it really is. Once you know the story, you can refine it into something actually readable, but you can never get to that point unless you get that first draft out of your head.

About the Author – Saffron Amatti

Saffron Amatti is the author of the Lucas Rathbone Mysteries, a series of historical cozy mysteries with a ghostly twist set in 1920s England. She lives in a rather pretty village in Derbyshire, UK, where she spends an unhealthy amount of time thinking about how to kill people and (almost) get away with it. This is almost entirely in relation to her writing, but she keeps her family on their toes by throwing a little doubt in occasionally.

Follow Saffron on social:

Universal links to all Saffron’s books: https://mybook.to/SaffronAmattiBooks

Saffron’s website: www.saffron-amatti.co.uk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saffron.amatti/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaffronAmattiAuthor

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@saffron.amatti

Pintrest: https://uk.pinterest.com/saffronamattiauthor/

Purchase Dripping Poison by Saffron Amatti

UK: eBook | Paperback
USA: eBook | Paperback

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

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Author Interview – Ligia De Wit

Contemporary Magical Realism Author

It’s time to meet author, Ligia de Wit and find out about her writing journey and her book Seven Hundred Beachfront.

Helen: Welcome, Ligia. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m really intersted to hear about your book, Seven Hundred Beachfront.

Ligia: Seven Hundred Beachfront is a contemporary magical realism story set on the beach. Because we all need some beach in our lives, don’t we? It follows a young woman who’s used to being alone and doing everything by herself. She believes she doesn’t need anyone, so she pushes people away. But life has a funny way of placing the right people in your path, even if they come in unexpected forms: a five-year-old kid, a grumpy neighbor, and a sentient house who is even grumpier. So, three grumpy souls and one beam of sunshine. At its core, the story is about abandonment. About forgiving those who don’t deserve it. About letting go of pain—the kind that lingers right behind you, even when you pretend not to see it. It’s also about love. Not just romantic love (though that’s there), but brotherly love and self-love. About giving yourself permission to face that darkness and decide enough is enough. To tell yourself you are worthy of love. And yes, there’s grumpiness. And laughter. And moments of levity that stretch like a tarp over heavier things. Because sometimes, that’s just how life works.

Helen: You had me at Sentinent house. I love inanimate objects having an opinion. What were your thoughts behind you cover?

Ligia: Setting can be a strong part of a story. In Seven Hundred Beachfront, it is the story. Most of it takes place inside a dilapidated house, so the house is integral to everything. Did I mention the house is sentient? It even has a name. I always knew I wanted the yellow house right at the front. It’s stormy because it reflects the pain and hardship. There are seagulls to echo the sound of the beach. And of course, a touch of green lightning—something that’s part of the story and hints at the magical realism woven throughout.

Helen: There is always more than meets the idea behind book cover designs. I love the attention to detail you had when designing this cover. What made you writte this particular book?

Ligia: This might be my most personal book, one that reflects part of the hurt I carried growing up. Bev, the FMC, embodies that in many ways. But it also offers hope. That no matter how dark your life might feel, no matter that some things may never be fixed, you can still make magic happen in your own life. I wrote this when I was just starting to write again after a 20+ year hiatus, at a time when I didn’t think I was good enough. And because of that, I wrote this story non-stop.

Helen: I’m glad you found your way backing to writing. For me it is a passion, I just love writing. Do you listen to music when you write, if so, what do you listen to and why?

Ligia: Music has always been part of my life, so yes—I listen to it when I write. But it’s a complement, a minor character, not the main one. It has to blend with my mood as I work. I usually go for a chill playlist, something that stays in the background and lets the story take center stage. Right now, as I’m working on a very important part of my WIP, I’ve been listening to Ludovico Einaudi.

Helen: I love Einaudi! I listen to a lot of classical music when I write. How do you get the ideas for a new book?

Ligia: Great question! I pull them from the air, mold them with sand, and infuse them with a little pixie dust—and voilà, a book. Okay, kidding… but not really. It can feel that way. I get inspired by movies or books that move me deeply, and my brain immediately starts chanting what if… That’s usually where it begins but it’s only a small piece of it. I dream stories while I’m awake. They come to me (hence the “pulling them from the air”), and I shape them until I have no choice but to pour them onto the keyboard. The real spark happens then. I usually don’t have much at the start, but as I write, the scenes unfold, the characters come alive with vivid clarity: their struggles, their passions…And I get so excited I can’t stop typing. It’s beautiful.

Helen: I think ‘what if’ are two of the most important words for writers. If we didn’t ask these questions our stories would never happen. What are you working on now?

Ligia: Redemption of Faete is book four—and the final installment—in my Bradaís Pledge series. It’s a contemporary-to–second-world adventure filled with danger, immortal pirates (definitely not your typical ones), fae mentors shaped more in the Tolkien vein, and a human who begins the series naïve and a bit immature (lovely so—I’m in my 50s and still immature in some areas, so I wanted to represent that!). What I love most about this series is how both main characters grow—the immortal pirate and the young seer—and how the stakes rise with each book.
This final installment is intense. It’s the end, after all. There’s found family, love lost (and found again; this is a HEA series), dragons meddling, and powerful gods trying to destroy their reality. It’s absolute chaos. Wonderful chaos.I’m currently in the middle of a major revision after receiving developmental edits, and it’s been so exciting to create new scenes and find even more ways for my heroes to complicate their lives.

Helen: Oh that sounds wonderful, chaos and dragons, what more can you ask for? Tell us a little about the protagonist in your story.

Ligia: This is a dual-POV series. I first wrote it from Ryanne’s perspective. Unlike many heroines, she starts with no real power—just some silly visions. At the beginning of book one, she’s a bit absorbed in her own world and hasn’t quite realized what it means to have a fae mentor and a brave pixie as her guardian. I wrote her because she—and the pixie—came to me one Sunday morning at 6 a.m. and demanded I write her story. I swear it’s true. I relented at 7 a.m. and wrote her first chapter, where she told me everything. I fell in love with her silliness (I’m pretty goofy too) and her personality. Then came Titus—a bloodthirsty pirate who can’t find peace because he’s controlled by his creator. Oh man, do I love Titus. It’s been an absolute pleasure to be in his head and watch his growth, especially in this last book. Why did I write him? In my first draft, he went out for coffee while Ryanne was trying to avoid the pixie—and drink far too much coffee (he’s addicted). I saw him there—worried, determined—and I knew I needed to understand him better. His story flowed from my fingers so easily.

Helen: What is the best thing that has happened to you since you began writing?

Ligia: Readers. Hands down. When I first started writing, I did it simply because I couldn’t stop (I have several drafts from that time that will never see the light of day as proof!). I loved creating stories, building worlds, and bringing characters to life. But then those characters made their way out into the world. Readers found them—and fell in love with them and their stories. And honestly, that’s more than enough reason to keep going.

Helen: I’m glad enthusiatic readers found your books. Thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been great learning more about your books. Most authors are also great readers. Just to close us out do you have any book recommendations for us?

Ligia: Reading is part of the writing life. Honestly, like most people, it’s been part of mine since I was seven years old. I can’t imagine a life without reading (please tell me heaven has a library… I need that). For epic fantasy, I’d recommend Khyven the Unkillable by Todd Fahnestock. It’s book one in a five-book series, and I recently finished the final installment—which is actually influencing the writing of my own last book. For a debut author—also epic fantasy, with wolves (not fantasy romance, very important!)—A Bird Among Wolves by Tracy Leonard Nakatani. Amazing. And for fantasy romance: Soulfire Blue by Jesse Sprague. It’s currently on Kickstarter as a gorgeous special edition, with art illustrated by the author herself.

Helen: Oh these sound really interesting. More for the TBR pile! Thank you for sharing.

About the Author – Ligia de Wit

Ligia de Wit writes fantasy romance adventures with heart, humor, and just the right dose of magic. A lifelong romantic with a soft spot for fairy tales and found family tropes, Ligia writes characters who are strong in more than just a physical sense. Her characters face fears, fight for themselves, and find love in the most unexpected places.

When she’s not writing (or rewriting) her imaginary worlds, she works for a global distribution company and dreams up stories during lunch breaks. You’ll often find her with her nose in a book, exploring a new city, hiking through forests, or acting like a total goof at theme parks. She’s a proud kid at heart—and owns it.

Follow Ligia on social:

Goodreads
Facebook
Instagram

Purchase Seven Hundred Beachfront by Ligia de Wit

UK: eBook | Paperback
USA: eBook | Paperback

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free copy of Sentinals Stirring

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.

Author Interview – Suzanne Furness

YA Fantasy Author

It’s time to meet YA Fantasy author, Suzanne Furness and find out about her books.

Helen: Welcome, Suzanne. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Tell us about your latest book.

Suzanne: Storm of Clocks is a middle grade fantasy set on the stunning North Cornish Coast around Tintagel Castle.

It is perfect for readers of 8 and upwards. I know of at least one 96-year-old lady who loved it!

Eleven-year-old Livvy’s life is torn apart the night her dad dies in an accident and her brother stops talking. A tiny piskie with BIG secrets bursts into her world warning a storm will cause massive destruction to her town. However, the storm could reverse an ancient curse that will herald the return of giants. Livvy must follow her new piskie friend, Patsy, into a hidden world of folklore and legend to discover dangerous creatures lurking in the bushes and magical birds that soar overhead. It’s a story of loss, friendship and hope.

The clocks are ticking . . . The skies are darkening . . . The storm is approaching . . .

Storm of Clocks was short listed in 2025 for the Holyer an Gof Award. An annual award for the best books promoting Cornwall, set in Cornwall or written in the Cornish language.

Helen: Such a beautiful coastline. With all the myths and legends in Cornwall, I bet you had great fun writing this book. What were your thoughts behind you cover?

Suzanne: I simply LOVE this cover. Big thanks to my fabulous illustrator, Alexandra Fowler. Alex and I were able to meet up and discuss my vision as she lives very close to me in Cornwall. I wanted to have Livvy and Patsy (the piskie) standing on the cliff top as the storm began. The lighthouse was Alex’s idea as we thought it would add a highlight. I think it works really well with the waves crashing over it. I then suggested the lightning streaks which Alex was able to incorporate into the title. The frame of the cover is a tree which features in the story (no spoilers here you will have to read the book!). Alex has cleverly hidden other clues to things in the story amongst the tree and other plants. Look closely for a pocket watch, a book, and the birds. Flip the book over to find a deer and a pair of eyes lurking in the bushes!

Helen: There so much detail in your cover, I love learning what all the images mean! I assume Livvy is on the cover, tell us more about her.

Suzanne: The main protagonist is an eleven-year-old girl called, Livvy. Short for Olivia. We learn she lost her father in a car accident which resulted in her younger brother, Ed stopping talking. Obviously a very tricky time for Livvy. The story is set several months after the accident as Livvy is learning to manage some of her feelings. Then she finds Patsy Scribble a Cornish Piskie in the compost heap and her life changes again. Livvy grows through the story and starts to see that her life can move forward but she can still keep a piece of her dad in her heart. This might seem a sad story but in fact it is uplifting and contains lots of hope. It’s an adventure that changes her forever.

I experienced the loss of my dad at a young age too. Different circumstances but the feelings and heartbreak were the same. I hope some of that first-hand knowledge comes through in the story. I started writing Livvy’s story shortly after my mum died after a long illness 13 years ago. I think it was cathartic in many ways. The image of meeting a piskie at the bottom of the garden was very strong and the story grew from there. It’s been through lots of editing and rewrites to get it to where it is.

Helen: I also found writing cathartic. I started writing after my mum passed away. Much later in life, but the time was obviously right. My greatest regret is that she never got to read any of my books. Is Livvy your favourite character or is there anyone else you found interesting to write?

Suzanne: Hmm, this is an interesting question because as I have explained above, Livvy is a special character to me. However, I love the feisty piskie, Patsy Scribble. She is definitely not a stereotypical piskie. (In case anyone was wondering a piskie is a Cornish word for a type of pixie.) She comes out with some funny sayings and quite often is a little rude about humans and their world.

There are also three birds in the story. One is the very clever and slightly superior Cornish Chough called Merlin. (Yes, it is an Arthurian reference). He was fun to write too. He doesn’t speak as such but he I tried to portray his character through his behaviour and actions.

Helen: Your characters sound like fun. When did you realise you had a passion for writing?

Suzanne:  I think it’s always been there but maybe I didn’t fully understand it till a lot later on. As a teenager I wrote lots of poetry, which was one of the ways I tried to cope with the loss of my dad and other life events. It was years later that I actually started to think about writing a story. My first attempts were short stories for adults. I entered a few into competitions. One even got published in an anthology. I then tried writing an adult novel. Looking back, I can fully see it wasn’t great but I learnt a lot from those 80K words! I moved onto writing for children shortly after that. I have worked with children for many years as well as bringing up two of my own so it seemed a natural progression for me.

Helen: I think the more you write, the more you practice, the better you get! If you don’t write then there’s nothing to edit or improve. When writing, do you plan in advance or make it up as you go?

Suzanne: I have to admit I am a pantser through and through! It’s a slightly strange concept for me as in most areas of my life I plan things carefully and I am not a person who enjoys chaos or just going with the flow. Perhaps that’s exactly why I have to let my creative juices do their own thing when writing. I usually start either with a line of writing or a character name and go from there. I might do mind maps and character description cards as I get into the story a bit but other than that it’s just open the laptop and see what happens! Not the most efficient way as it means lots of editing and rewriting but so far it has worked for me.

Helen: I think what works for you is best. Do you find you need to do much research for your books?

Suzanne: Ah, well this is where I might spend a bit of planning time and like many writers, sometimes I find myself down the proverbial rabbit hole of research! But I do enjoy that side of things. With Storm of Clocks I researched Cornish folklore in depth and decided which aspects I could incorporate into the story. Quite often the research helped move the story forward when I got a bit stuck. It was fun to see how lots of things entwined. It’s such a big part of this story I have added a glossary at the back to explain a few things a little more. I have sprinkled the story with a few Cornish words and phrases too which all add to the feel of the book.

Helen: Writers tend to end up knowing so much trivia! What else are you working on?

Suzanne: I have a fun and slightly quirky story about a young boy, Jack Potts, who finds a door at the back of his shed which leads to a world known as Underbed Storage! A place where rubbish is treasure and nothing is wasted. He meets a clumsy dragon, a sort of wizard and some rather strange robots. It’s a very different story to Storm of Clocks but The Accidental Adventures of Jack Potts is a fun adventure for readers 7 plus. It’s got lots of fun illustrations too so is ideal for the more reluctant reader or new to chapter book readers. Check out Ink Bookshop or Amazon

I am hoping to be able to share news very soon about a new middle grade story that will hopefully be published later this year. Watch this space or follow my socials for the latest information on that exciting project.

Helen: Thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been great learning more about your books. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Suzanne: My website is here and I’m always happy to chat so give me a follow or get in touch. I can sell signed books direct and will include bookmarks and stickers so if that is something you would be interested in just get in touch to arrange.

About the Author – Suzanne Furness

Suzanne lives in Cornwall with her husband and a cat with a moustache! She can often be found walking the coastal footpath on the lookout for pirate ships and lost mermaids or exploring woodlands and moors on the hunt for fae. Sadly, she hasn’t found a piskie at the bottom of the garden but she will never stop looking.

Follow Suzanne on Instagram

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If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

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Author Interview – Ectorius Angel

Author and Poet

It’s time to meet Author and poet, Ectorius Angel, and find out more his writing journey.

Helen: Welcome, Ectorius. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Tell us about your work.

Ectorius: People keep asking me about a book. I have tried so hard to be honest and say that I do have one, and I do, but it’s one that can’t be published any time soon, in the hands of a lovely publisher called Curious Corvid Publishing. It’s called The Flowers of Hades, and it’s perhaps the roughest, but somewhat also more original works I’ve ever written. I wish I could tell you more about it, let you know what else there is to say, but right now, all I can really say is that it will come when it is time. I wish I could say a lot more about it and my second book, called Remember We Once Lived. A story about Alexander the Great and Hephaestion. That is the most heartfelt, poetic, and truly hardest work I’ve ever written in my entire life. I have cemented over five years of research and archeology, academic research and historical research just to have the general knowledge and understanding of Hephaestion’s and Alexander’s inner lives. These are in the hands of Ravven White of Curious Corvid Publishing right now. However, more than anything, I’m a poet, and I guess, in some way, instead of a current book, I’d of loved to say that I have many poems coming, because there have been quite a lot that has been sent in to poetry journals, magazines, art centers, and so much more. That is my biggest pride to announce, more than any other book. I come from poetry, and poetry is what made me.

Helen: Congratulations on your forthcoming publications, and I bet the waiting for your books to come out is excrutiating. Have you had sight of the covers yet?

Ectorius: I’m sad I can’t really say much here. Covers are something I believe come at the end, once the book has been made ready for publishing. Right now, I don’t really know what it would be like, or what its design will look like just on principle. We have great designers in Curios Corvid, and many others in other publishers and whatnot. So, hopefully, it will be beautiful, and I think simplistic, because that’s what I would like to be.

Helen: How did you come up with the title for your book?

Ectorius: The Flowers of Hades wasn’t its original name. In reality, it was very far from that name. There are characters based off of a lot of other people, but two female characters are based majorly around the bad and the good parts of my partner, Finian, who has been by my side for years. Originally, it was named something entirely different. It had…Four titles, before settling on that. Titles are…They are the body of my work. I know how stories will end, I know how tragedy will come and what I need to suffer through to write it. I never plan, I hate planning, I find it absurd and it makes no sense in any capacity. You write to feel something; you write because you feel. 

Helen: I think everyone has a different way of writing and as long as you continue to love what you do, and you enjoy writing then that is what works for you. What made you write this particular book?

Ectorius: I want you to imagine walking into a bedroom; it belongs to someone you once loved, or knew, or someone you hated. But it still belongs, regardless, to someone. There are books there, clothes, items, things you don’t know much about. It’s the inner life of someone else. Someone you’ll never get to see, and however you feel, never get to resolve anything with. How you feel is up to you, and it’s for nobody to shame. And you stand there, looking, alone, not a word to your mouth, a smile to your face. Just a torn, empty self that can only be ready to get rid of everything to never feel it again. A hatred or a desire to get rid of something so strong. It’s how ordinary people or ordinary writers will never understand why I prefer solitude, why love doesn’t kill loneliness, or the suffocation I feel every day when someone mentions the name of a person I know, or when they tell me “Why can’t you do something so simple?” When my mind is constantly busy, and I easily lose track of things. I’m never there, even in the most important moments; I’m always unreachable. I guess that’s why I wrote the book, why I write anything at all. I can’t live without writing, and I can’t write without suffering living. Every day is a constant wish for an eternal rest without the call of writing in a modern age, but I know that if I stop even once, I’ll want to kill myself here and now, and that is the worst and best thing I have ever been able to say about why I write anything.

Helen: Creating a work of art can be consuming. As always, balance is important. Life feeds creativity and creativity feeds life. If you don’t experience one, how can the other exist? When did you first realise you had such a passion for writing?

Ectorius:  I never really realized it. I was too young to really understand. I knew that some days I’d walk outside in Italy or Germany and I’d just stop. There’d be a bird, or a hawk or a butterfly or even just the light off of the edge of a ledge of another building. The sunlight, the grass, a sway of blades that feels like a caress. I guess to answer the “When” of it, it’d be earlier than I can really remember. So early it just came to me, and by nine, I had a mentor who was a published author of whom I studied under.

Helen: On your writing journey was there anyone who gave you the inspiration to write?

Ectorius:  That’d be my mentor, Jules, and my friends. Ana Monica Banto, Dr. Catherine Sooyun Lee, Iselin Lørentsen, Stefani Stamboliyska-Murffit, Joshua Sell, and James Johnston and Patrick Walsh, now known as Vox Forged as a voice actor. Without them, I wouldn’t really be here. But more than anyone else, it is also Finian Sun, my partner, to whom I owe everything, now and any time in the future. 

Helen: I know you write poetry, but for fiction, which genre do you typically write?

Ectorius:  Romance, historical romance, romantic poetry, travel poetry and in general just contemporary romance. Much of it is to do with the fragility of life. How a shadow falls on a wall and we look at it, quietly, unmoving. How the touch of a hand says you are safe. Or even how an old motorbike leaning against a wall can be the last drop of a memory that you never want to let go of. Human sensuality, gentleness, fragility, the seconds of quietness between moments. And especially the fractured parts that show our most vulnerable selves.

Helen: Who is your protagonist and why did you write her/him?     

Ectorius: He is David, a boy who isn’t quite understood by others, or by those around him. He’s an outsider, a travelling nomad, someone who can’t quite be the thing everyone wants. Having lost a lot, seen more funerals than I can really count on two hands at the age of twenty-seven, it… It makes you look on a lot. On those you’ve lost, the people you’ve remembered, the smiles, everything else. That led to this. Writing about seeing the world from a writer’s perspective, but hurtful, emotional, raw. So raw that even my own lecturer had to email me and ask me if I was alright haha.

Helen: If your Main Character could answer, why would they say we should read your book?     

Ectorius: I think the main character wouldn’t want anyone to read his book. It’s a diary entry of every day life, of existing. One could even say it’s the deepest and most vulnerable emotions out there, and that alone would make him scared of anyone ever really reading it.

Helen: How do you get the ideas for a new book?

Ectorius: Some days I will look at something and eventually that little something turns into more. The flicker of a light at a traffic stops during the rain in Tokyo, or the calm walk through Roma as you see tourists and the shadows that linger just a little over the ancient ruins. There’s a story in everything, every part of life, and in some manner, it just comes by itself. I believe the stories that need to be written, come to their own designated writer, their own storyteller. A small spark of a flame that gently carries its heat onward until it reaches the wandering one.

Helen: Are you working on anything new? Could you tell us about your current WIP.

Ectorius: I am currently working on publishing three poetry collections when and if I can, and a non-fiction work that I’ve started with my undergraduate. It was originally written as a study paper of sorts for writing purposes. Now it’s a more truthful and vulnerable piece. An exploration of a person’s inner life, the dreamscape of it all, the bond between reality and surrealism. It’s a work very much like Murakami’s.

Ectorius has had poems published in Era Lit Magazine. You can read the poems here.

Helen: Which element of the writing process do you find most challenging and why?

Ectorius: I’d say editing, but having been an editor, now it’s more or less quite facilitated. If anything, telling the truth in writing. The way of being vulnerable and open, and honest to the point of feeling hurt by it. There’s a harshness in writing truthfully, and it requires you to be hurting, the kind of pain that you can’t just accept and walk away from. Had it not been for that, I don’t know what I’d do.

Helen: What is one of the most useful resources you use when writing?

Ectorius: I do not really utilize resources. I have a pen, a notebook, and a paper. That’s it. Everything else is purely writing, as it always has been.

Helen: What is the most useful piece of writing advice you’ve received, and by whom?

Etorius: “Write truthfully” by Judith Heneghan, my lecturer. And “Ordinary people and their opinions don’t matter. They’re nothing. Stories, stories are everything. Write them, because you’re one of the few that are born with it. You have a duty, and that duty is solely yours.” by a very close friend and author. These two are the most important parts for me. And I think they always will be.

Helen: Every writer experiences self-doubt. How do you overcome the fear and the little voice in your head to keep writing?

Ectorius: I spent at least twenty minutes to think about how to answer this. Truthfully? I don’t really have any doubts. I never really did. I wish I did, and I wish there were ways for me to say so, but I don’t. I write because I know what I am, and that alone makes me not need doubts. It never really did.

Helen: How do you fit your writing into your everyday life?

Ectorius: Everything I do is writing. My partner would tell you so, even my friends, even the people who truly know me. I could be conversing with someone, and in the end, I’m not even thinking about them or the conversation, but the dust on their jacket or the light of the window, a bird on a tree branch. I’m never there, even on the most important days, like a date. There have been times where my beloved has caught me just looking at buildings, windows, the sea, and anything else in-between. Sound comes and goes, and I remember what’s said, but I can’t quite say I’m ever really there. Every action, just like breathing, is writing. What I see, sense, feel, touch, eat, endure, or otherwise simply have any form of sensory contact with in any capacity, becomes writing.

Helen: Do you listen to music when you write, if so, what do you listen to and why?

Ectorius: I do, and I don’t. Some days I need silence, loneliness, and other days I need music. I listen to Kensuke Ushio, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kenichiro Suehiro, Masaru Yokoyama, Ichiro Araki, Takeshi Obo, Konomi Suzuki, Kanzaki Iori, and Haruka Nakamura. There’s even a playlist called Orchestra Et Sum, a collection of every orchestra, instrumental or otherwise sentimental based pieces I’ve listened to and like and that are part of my inner life. It’s a 57 some hour playlist on Spotify haha. I listen to them because I need time alone, I need to be able to process what I feel, how, why. And I need… A space to be quietly vulnerable without anyone and anything around. Music and silence do that. Especially the artists and playlist I’ve mentioned.

Helen: How much research do you do for each book?

Ectorius: Hephaestion’s and Alexander’s story took me five years of research before writing, because they’re historical people. Generally, I will dedicate a lot of time to research if it’s realism. But if it’s not, not a lot. I just write what I remember and experience. 

Helen: From a writing perspective, are you a pantser or a planner? Do you write free form, or do you have a framework you stick to?

Ectorius: I already know the entire story just by the title alone. Titles, for me, are everything. They’re the se piece, the dressing room, the lighting and sound design. They’re every part of it. Most readers won’t really get it and they’ll sort of skip away from the title and into the nitty gritty of things, but I base everything around a feeling and a title. Especially because I already know how it will end. It’s like a surge, where an entire 500 some pages of a story come into your mind, bombarding you, trying to kill you if you don’t write it. I’m a hostage to my own work.

Helen: It sounds like you are typically quite prolific, but have you ever encountered writer’s block? Do you have any advice to overcome it?

Ectorius: I’ll be as frankly honest as I can here: I suffer. I harm myself with alcohol and isolation, and sometimes I don’t even do anything good for myself at all. Not being able to write is insanity for me. It kills me, slowly, until I’m at its mercy. It’s only been in the last two years that I’ve learned to deal with it differently. Finian usually sees when I’m struggling and ends up making us have a vacation or something else. I love her, because she knows what I need, and I don’t quite know how to explain that to anyone. It used to be worse; I used to spiral into the worst depths of darkness out there when I was far younger. Monica pulled me out of that, so did Ms. Catherine Lee. And James Johnston. There have been many times where not being able to write was a true danger to myself and nothing but an endless cycle of suffering. 

Helen: Do you have a burning desire to write in a different genre? If so, what would you write?

Ectorius: If I didn’t write in romance, I… I would probably write in something that has a close proximity to the stylistics of Film Noir.

Helen: What is the best thing that has happened to you since you began writing?

Ectorius: I became a published poet. I got to see the world, learn about its beauty and underlying parts. I got to love, be loved, and experienced hatred, wrath, and every other emotion out there. I guess what I’m trying to say is: I got to truly experience life in the most wonderful manner, so much so that I am never quite sure if I ever walked out of the dreamscape.

Helen: What is your favourite book and why do you like it so much?

Ectorius: Savannah Brown’s “Sweetdark” and “In Praise of Shadows” by Jun’Ichirō Tanizaki. Poetry for me is important; it’s the root of where I started, and you could say the same for Savannah Brown, too. It’s where she started as well. I never got to meet her and such, but I figure we’d both understand each other if we ever did. And In Praise of Shadows by Tanizaki would probably be something that taught me a lot about how to utilize silence, light, architecture. Especially how important this aesthetic really is. In the west, they don’t understand it. I’m Lithuanian by birth and even I cannot really lean toward western ideals anymore. It’s too barbaric, too rough.  And I guess my third favorite, or most liked book, not quite the word “favorite” for any of these… Would be “No Longer Human” by Osamu Dazai. It’s the most self-inflicted vulnerability out there, and if anything, the most raw example of writing truthfully no matter how badly it hurts.

Helen: I know authors are great readers. What are some of the books you read recently that you would recommend to others?

Ectorius: I… Would recommend philosophy. Especially Aristoteles’ work, Franz Kafka, or even the ancient greats and the philosophers of our time. Kant, too. Schopenhauer. I think discipline, philosophy, linguistics, the humanities, history, archeology, sociology, anthropology, the fine arts, literature, poetry. These are the most important foundations for anyone. I can’t recommend just “one” book so to speak. If anything, I would highly recommend discovering the world through philosophy and the classics, because I did, and I think everyone else should too.

Helen: We nearly at the end of the interview. Thank you for sharing your passion for writing. Is there anything anecdotal you’d like share.

Ectorius: When I first moved elsewhere, I got lost trying to understand the language. I asked five different people about how to say thank you and I’m sorry. An hour later, I discovered I didn’t really need it, because I was a stranger anyway.  So I asked a neighbour what to do, and she laughed and simply gave me food. That’s how I learned that it’s not about communication, but that kindness had been right there in front of me, and I was asking how to ask for it, instead of accepting what I had.

Helen: Thank you so much for joining me today. It has been really interesting chatting with you, and I wish you success with all your endeavours. Just to close us out, what advice would you give new writers?

Ectorius: Write what you want, in the end, once you’re 20 or 30, only really some classmates and strangers can judge you. Nobody else. Your story is yours, and so are your feelings, and nobody has the right to shame that. Now or later. If you’re born as a poet or an artist, you have a sole duty of carrying on the legacy of art; that is the only thing that will and should ever matter to you. Nothing and nobody else is above your destiny.

About the Author – Ectorius Angel

 Ectorius Angel is a Lithuanian poet and classical author whose work weaves themes of displacement, impermanence, and the unsaid moments that shape human experience. Raised across Europe and now residing in Norway and Hong Kong, he draws from influences spanning Eastern traditions to Western romanticism.

    His writing reflects a deep appreciation for minimalism, resonating with the balance of light and sound, often evoking nature’s shifting seasons. Through vivid imagery, Angel conjures tidal waves and gentle landscapes, using water and rain as metaphors for emotion and capturing beauty in fleeting moments. This connection to nature underlines his explorations of nostalgia, loss, and the sense of being a ghost—an observer in a distant world.

    Mentored by an Australian historical author, Angel’s literary journey centers on the complexities of human existence. He delves into the brokenness of heroes and the disillusionment that accompanies admiration, prompting readers to reflect on life’s fragility and intricate relationships.

    Inspired by luminaries like Osamu Dazai, Haruki Murakami, and Yukio Mishima, along with Western influences like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Oscar Wilde, Angel’s poetry transcends cultural boundaries. As an artist from marginalized post-USSR Lithuania, he channels cultural displacement into his work, viewing it as resistance against a world driven by greed and power.

    Despite the challenges of his fading cultural legacy, Angel’s writing stands as a testament to resilience. His lifelong search for “home” and reflections on grief are imbued with emotional depth, inviting readers to connect with the beauty and pain of existence. Ultimately, he is remembered as a poet who illuminates the complexities of life, crafting meaning from desolate places. 

Follow Ectorius on:

Instagram 

Goodreads

Purchase Shattered Reflections: A collection of poems featuring Ectroius Angel.

Amazon USA: Paperback

Amazon UK: Paperback

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

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Author Interview – Debalina Halder

Literary fiction Author

It’s time to meet literary fiction author, Debalina Haldar, and find out more about her book: The Daughters of Shantiniketan, a tale of forbidden love and generational struggles that released in September 2025.

Helen: Welcome, Debalina. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Tell us about your latest book.

Debalina: The Daughters of Shantiniketan is a work of fiction and largely revolves around an aristocratic and orthodox Rabindranath Tagore-worshiping family in their ancestral mansion called Shantiniketan situated in the heart of Kolkata. Charulata, also called Charu, is the protagonist of this novel. She is the ideal progeny of the aristocratic family. The novel gradually reveals how her individual honesty and virtue, coupled with the hard-hitting questions about her beliefs raised by a carefree boy, enable her to rise above the pre-set notions that she has lived by all her life. The novel explores the troughs and crests of the sea of human emotions and as Charu sails through each of them, the readers discover how Tagore has weaved a song on every human emotion.

Helen: It sounds like an interesting tale set against the musical and literary backdrop of Tagore. Is there a story behind the cover?

Debalina: The cover shows the family mansion called Shantiniketan, which is also the name of the learning abode established by Rabindranath Tagore decades ago. It is symbolic of the extent of Tagore-worship. The family mansion, the very many Tagore portraits around the house, and of course the name – all of that is an outwardly attempt to show the world how the family has been a generational connoisseur of Tagore. However, the mansion fails at retaining the essence of being Shantiniketan, which translates to ‘abode of peace’. As we read the book, we find the mansion is anything but that… as the portraits on the walls witness the lies, secrets, conflicts, and silent tears.

Helen: There are always secrets hidden behind the walls! What made you write this particular book?

Debalina: Growing up in the 90s and early 2000s in Calcutta, we were beginning to witness a slow change in the kind of music that were being made. These new, free-spirited music was commonly called Jibonmukhi Gaan or Life-ward Music. I still remember, we had an essay topic for our exam in school – If we are now listening to life-ward music, were we listening to death-ward music for so long? And these so-called life-ward music compositions had begun to spread their reach to the songs by Tagore as well. In my impressionable young mind, this conflict had settled deeply and I’m happy to have liberated it so many years later. There exists an undeniable anxiety in the Bengali intelligentsia over the “purity” of Rabindrasangeet (songs written by Tagore) in the various renditions by artists. This gives them an entitlement to guard this “purity”. This tug of war between traditional and modern renditions of his music is explored in this novel.

Helen: An environment of many experiences certainly supports creativity. When did you realise you had a passion for writing?

Debalina: When I was a child, I grew up surrounded by books. Week by week, month by month, their numbers multiplied until they felt less like objects and more like companions. My father’s frequent job transfers meant I attended five different schools, but in all that moving, it was the books that stayed. They shielded me from the ache of losing friends to distance, from the fragility of belonging. By the time I was seven, I had already learned that love and loss are constants of life, and perhaps that was when writing began to draw me in.

Helen: I’m glad you had your books around you, and I can see why they would be important to you when you were constantly on the move. The Daughters of Shantiniketan was your third novel. Tell us what you are working on next.

Debalina:  I am wrapping up my next literary novel. While this work also has strong women characters who must support each other in adversity, it focuses on motherhood and its many forms.

Helen: Thank you so much for joining me today. Just to finish, with your books containing a lot of history, and references to real artists and their works, how much research do you do for each book?

Debalina: I spend a significant amount of time researching for my books. I explored contemporary musicians who reinterpret Tagore’s works as part of my research for the latest novel. It is refreshing to see musicians reimagining classical music written by Tagore (Rabindrasangeet) with a contemporary resonance, bridging the past and the present. They certainly gave me vivid ideas about Bolai’s free flowing songs in the novel. I also explored the complex relationship between Rabindrasangeet and the tradition of Carnatic music on one hand and local folk music on the other. How the usage of technology and modern instruments strengthens and sometimes weakens traditional compositions!

Around the time that I was writing this novel, I was also reading a lot about the women in Tagore’s life, some of whom might have influenced him to write songs. I read Jorasanko and The Daughters of Jorasanko by Aruna Chakravarty, Kadambari Debi’s Suicide Note by Ranjan Bandyopadhyay – amongst many others. I found women and their silent rebellions in these books – women from Tagore’s own family. How brave of these women to have stood against the looming patriarchy in every brick of the house and yet, create a place of their own! That moved me deeply.

About the Author – Debalina Haldar

Debalina Haldar writes in the literary fiction genre. Her novel, The Female Ward, was published in October 2012, by Thames River Press (UK). Her second book, Wrinkles in Memory, is a collection of 22 short stories. It was published in August 2016 by Lifi Publications. Wrinkles in Memory was shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for books in English in 2020. Recently, in 2025, her third book, The Daughters of Shantiniketan, was published by Readomania Publishing.

Follow Debalina on Instagram

Purchase The Daughters of Shantiniketan from Amazon. (In KU at time of posting.)

UK: eBook
USA: eBook

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free copy of Sentinals Stirring

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.

Author Interview – Gabriel Garcia

Historical Fantasy Author

It’s time to meet Indie author, Gabriel Garcia, and find out more about his books which are set in an alternate Roman empire.

Helen: Welcome, Gabriel. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Could you tell us about your latest book, The Wolf of Rome?

Gabriel: I’m currently immersed in the success of my latest novel, Decimus: The Wolf of Rome, the thrilling sequel to Amyntas: Son of Persia. This new installment spins off from my previous work, The Gathering, and continues to explore its richly crafted universe.

In The Wolf of Rome, we follow the daring adventures of Decimus Aquila, a courageous Roman soldier on a perilous mission to rescue his comrades from the ruthless grasp of Hannibal. Set in an alternate history in which Rome falls to Carthage during the Second Punic Wars, the stakes are higher than ever. Join Decimus as he navigates treacherous battles and unexpected alliances in a world where the outcome of history hangs in the balance.

Helen: This sounds great and gives me Gladiator vibes. You must have had fun twisting history. Tell us your ideas behind the cover design.

Gabriel: For the cover design, I envisioned something striking, reminiscent of the captivating style seen in “Son of Persia.” Picture a fierce warrior boldly standing front and center, commanding attention. I wanted the font to echo the same concise elegance, creating a unified look. The inspirations behind this vision are truly remarkable—authors like Conn Iggulden, Simon Scarrow, and Valerio Manfredi have not only shaped the book’s narrative but also significantly influenced its visual identity. Their powerful storytelling and dynamic imagery guide the aesthetic we aim for.

Helen: How did you decide on the book title?

Gabriel: When I first set out to title my book, I envisioned something that echoed the many familiar tales of ancient Rome. I wanted a nod to the classics, something that would resonate with readers. The initial title, “Decimus: Wolf of Rome,” seemed appealing at first. However, as I delved deeper into the editing process, I found it too generic for my liking.

After contemplating various options with my editor, we decided to pivot. By transforming the title into “The Wolf of Rome,” it not only captured the essence of my character, Decimus, but also infused the entire narrative with a sense of identity and intrigue. It felt like the perfect fit—bold and evocative, drawing readers into the world I had created.

Helen: Writing against a back drop of real historical events must be quite a challenge. What made you decide to write this book?

Gabriel: In the midst of the lockdown, when the world seemed to come to a standstill, I found myself deep in the throes of graduate school. To keep my mind active and my creativity flowing, I embarked on a new writing journey. After finishing the first draft of my third book, Michael: Last Angel of Earth, I was eager to maintain that momentum and dive into another project.

Helen: Tell us a little more about Decimus, your protagonist. Why did you write him?

Gabriel: In my novel, The Wolf of Rome, the heart of the story beats through the figure of Decimus Aquila—a valiant Roman soldier and devoted family man. He embodies the noble spirit of iconic characters like Maximus from Gladiator and Marius Titus from Ryse: Son of Rome, paying tribute to their legacies. Decimus’s journey is one filled with courage, love, and the relentless pursuit of honor in a world teetering on the edge of chaos. Join him as he navigates the trials of war and the bonds of family, crafting a tale that resonates with the timeless struggles of the human spirit.

Helen: If Decimus could answer, why would he say we should read your book?

Gabriel: If Decimus were able to speak, he would passionately declare that The Wolf of Rome transcends mere literature; it’s a vivid historical account of Rome’s resilience and the immense sacrifices etched into its history. This book unfolds like an epic saga, weaving together tales of bravery and endurance that chronicle the trials of the past and draw readers into the heart of Rome’s fight for survival.

Helen: Decimus is a great advocate! How do you get the ideas for a new book?

Gabriel: Honestly, films, movies, video games, and various other works of fiction have always captivated me. I’m continually inspired by the incredible creations I’ve encountered throughout my life. Each story and character leaves a mark, fueling my passion and creativity in ways I never expected.

Helen: With your book now out, what are you currently working on?

Gabriel: Step into 16th-century Japan with my exciting work-in-progress, the first installment of an enthralling samurai trilogy titled The Failed Quest: The Seven Blades of Nobunaga, set to hit shelves in 2026. This riveting tale follows the journey of Sugi Akimoto, a young and ambitious samurai who embarks on a remarkable ascent in the service of the notorious Oda Nobunaga. Alongside a diverse and dynamic team of warriors—featuring a cunning French mercenary, a battle-hardened Dutch soldier, a one-armed samurai ronin, a wise Shaolin monk, a stealthy shinobi, and the legendary Yasuke himself—Sugi navigates the treacherous waters of loyalty, honor, and ambition in a world where every decision can lead to glory or death. Get ready for an adventure filled with intrigue, action, and unforgettable characters!

Helen: Oh my, a completely different setting and a lot more research! You said you were writing during lockdown, but when did you realise you had a passion for writing?

Gabriel: From a young age, back in third grade, I discovered a spark for writing that has only grown with time. However, it wasn’t until my graduate school journey in 2020 that I truly dove deep into this passion, uncovering layers of creativity I never knew existed.

Helen: The Wolf of Rome is alternate history, but which other genres do you write and why?

Gabriel: I find myself captivated by the worlds and narratives that emerge in historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, speculative fiction, and epic fantasy. These genres are not just my favorite to write in; they are the ones that have sparked my imagination through countless hours of reading. Each story I craft is a thrilling journey, a chance to explore the unknown and reimagine reality in fascinating ways.

Helen: Who is your favourite character from your book?

Gabriel: One of my favorite characters is Michael. His journey in the first book stands out as one of my proudest achievements, alongside Decimus. The way he battles his trauma is deeply relatable, capturing the emotional weight of his struggles. By the time you reach the end, it’s impossible not to feel a sense of joy for him. His growth and resilience truly resonate with readers, making his story unforgettable.

Helen: Who first inspired you to write?

Gabriel: I still vividly remember my third-grade teacher, Mrs. Troost, who sparked my love for writing. It was in her classroom that I experienced the thrill of creating my very first story—an adventure inspired by the magic of Halloween. Her encouragement transformed my imagination into words, forever changing the way I express myself.

Helen: That is so wonderful that your creativity was supported from an early age. Which element of the writing process do you find most challenging and why?

Gabriel: The most challenging aspect of writing for me is mastering the art of show vs. tell. At my core, I’m a descriptive writer who thrives on crafting vivid, evocative portrayals of characters and settings. I tend to get lost in the details, pouring my heart into aching descriptions that bring every scene to life.

Helen: That is what makes editing so difficult. Recognising when you’ve got carried away and need to trim it back. We may love it, but does it add value to the story’s progression? Now you been writing and publishing for a few years, what is the best thing that has happened to you since you began writing?

Gabriel: Connecting with fellow writers has been an amazing journey for me! Since I started writing and publishing my own books, I’ve had the privilege of meeting some truly inspiring authors both locally and globally. One of the highlights of this experience has been joining a vibrant local writing chapter in Orange, CA, where creativity and camaraderie have fueled my passion for storytelling even more. Each encounter opens up new worlds of ideas and inspiration!

Helen: The writing community is very supportive. Having like minded people you can use as a sounding board is so helpful. What is one of the most useful resources you use when writing?

Gabriel: One of the most valuable resources I’ve discovered for my writing journey is fantasynamegenerator. This site has been a treasure trove for me, helping craft unique character names, vivid scene descriptions, and compelling backstories, among other things. It’s truly been a game-changer, fueling my creativity and making the writing process so much more enjoyable!

Helen: Thank you so much for sharing this tool, hopefully it will help other writers too. What is the most useful piece of writing advice you’ve received, and by whom?

Gabriel: One of the most invaluable pieces of writing advice I’ve ever received—and believe me, I’ve encountered plenty—is simply this: “Write the story.” It’s a potent reminder that you can’t refine what isn’t there; you can’t edit a blank page. It’s interesting how many writers I’ve met echo this sentiment, each adding their unique twist. But the core message remains: start writing!

Helen: Every writer experiences self-doubt. How do you overcome the fear and the little voice in your head to keep writing?

Gabriel: Every single day, I remind myself that I am an author. I’ve poured my heart into writing four books, and there’s no sign of slowing down. The journey of crafting stories is an adventure I’m excited to continue!

As for fitting writing into my everyday life, it’s all about carving out those precious moments. Whether it’s early mornings, late nights, or even during lunchtime, I make it a priority to immerse myself in the world of words.

In addition to being a passionate writer, I dive into the world of podcasting through my YouTube channel, Tales from the Wandering Scribe. I also share my love for learning as a tutor. My writing habits have transformed me into a night owl, often finding my best inspiration under the stars. However, when the chance presents itself, I love to embrace the daylight and let my creativity flow during the day as well.

Helen: I believe writing because you have a passion for it is key. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what do you listen to and why?

Gabriel: I absolutely love listening to music, particularly movie soundtracks! There’s something about those epic battle themes that really fires me up and sets the perfect atmosphere for writing my own thrilling battle scenes. They inspire me and immerse me in the action, making the creative process even more exhilarating!

Helen: With your books based in historical settings, I imagine you have to do a lot of research? How much research do you do for each book?

Gabriel: When diving into projects like Son of Persia and The Wolf of Rome, I put on my historian’s cap and embark on an exciting journey through historical records. It’s not just about bringing the classical age to life; it’s also about uncovering the hidden stories and untold truths of the ancient past that often lie beyond the surface.

Helen: I bet you find some amazing nuggets to base your stories on. With so much information at your fingertips are you a pantser or a planner? Do you write free form, or do you have a framework you stick to?

Gabriel: I’m a planner at heart, and there’s just no denying it! While I may sometimes venture into the spontaneous world of pantsing, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of being organized. For me, a well-structured plan is the backbone of creativity, allowing my ideas to flourish and take flight!

Helen: When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to overcome it?

Gabriel: Take a breather for a few days and dive into something fresh! Whether it’s exploring a new story or tackling another exciting project on the side, give yourself the chance to refresh your creativity.

Helen: If you didn’t write historical fiction, then which genre would you like to try and write in next?

Gabriel: If I were to step outside my usual realms of historical fiction, sci-fi, or fantasy, I would love to dive into the gripping world of political thrillers or the enchanting depths of historical romance. Both genres offer such rich storytelling possibilities, and I can already imagine the thrilling plots and poignant characters that could come to life!

Helen: What is your favourite book and why do you like it so much?

Gabriel: One of my all-time favorite reads is “Clash of Eagles” by Alan Smale. This captivating novel was my first foray into speculative fiction, and it left a lasting impression. The story brilliantly envisions a world where the Roman Empire never crumbled, embarking on an ambitious quest to colonize the Americas in the 1200s. It’s a fascinating blend of history and imagination that truly brought me into the genre!

Helen: What are some of the books you have read recently that you would recommend to others?

Gabriel: I’ve been diving into some fantastic reads lately, all from incredibly talented indie authors. First up, there’s “Tides of Deception” by Caley Robinson—an absolute page-turner! Then I ventured into the mesmerizing world of “Treasures of Egypt” by Amr Saleh, where every twist kept me guessing. “Gentle Fury” by Dodge Merrin hit me with some profound themes, while “Invicta” by Chris Hackett took me on a thrilling ride. I can’t forget about “Season of the Dragon” by Natalie Wright, which whisked me away to a fantastical realm, and “The Nameless War” by Will Solomon, a gripping tale that had me on the edge of my seat. Each of these stories is a testament to the creativity and skill of indie authors—definitely worth checking out!

Helen: More books to add to the TBR! I love getting recommendations. From all the advice you’ve collected, what advice would you give new writers?

Gabriel: As a new writer, my best piece of advice is to embrace your unique voice and tell the story that stirs your heart. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of writing for the market—many authors hear this advice and feel pressured to conform. But remember, true magic happens when you write from your own passion and inspiration. So dig deep, explore your creativity, and let your authentic story shine. It’s your journey—make it yours!

Helen: Thank you so much for joining me today, it’s been great learning about your books and your writing journey. I wish you every success with your books. Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Gabriel: As authors and writers, our greatest decision is how we choose to use the time we are given. The journey of being an author can be challenging, but many have thrived within this community, each carrying a unique story that deserves to be heard.

About the Author – Gabriel Garcia

Gabriel Garcia is more than just an indie author; he’s a vibrant storyteller and passionate historian who weaves tales across the realms of fantasy, speculative fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction. Growing up in the sun-soaked expanses of Southern California, Gabriel’s vivid imagination was ignited by his deep love of history and storytelling. Influenced by the literary prowess of masters like Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, and Brian Jacques, he channels his creative spirit into crafting narratives that captivate and inspire.

His literary adventure began with the release of his debut novel, The Gathering. This book was a labor of love, meticulously developed during his pursuit of a Master’s degree in History. That journey not only honed his writing skills but also deepened his appreciation for the intricate historical backdrops that enrich his stories. Building on this foundation, Gabriel has gone on to publish two more compelling books, each one exploring different facets of the human experience. Now, he’s hard at work on an exciting fourth novel that promises to be another enthralling addition to his body of work.

But Gabriel’s creativity doesn’t stop with writing novels. He also hosts the engaging podcast “Tales From The Wandering Scribe,” available on YouTube. Here, he connects with fellow writers and creatives, diving into meaningful conversations about their unique journeys and inspiring stories. His podcast is more than just a platform for writers; it’s an exploration of fascinating historical topics alongside historians and passionate hobbyists. Gabriel invites listeners to embark on a thrilling journey through history’s many layers, creating a dynamic space for anyone curious about the past. Join him on this remarkable adventure, and discover the exciting paths that lie ahead in the wondrous worlds of literature and history!

Author Website

Wandering Scribe podcast

Instagram

Author Newsletter

Bluesky

Amazon

Goodreads author page

Purchase The Wolf of Rome from Amazon:

UK: eBook | Paperback
USA: eBook | Paperback

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free copy of Sentinals Stirring

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.

Author Interview – Estelle Tudor

Fantasy Author

It’s time to meet Indie author, Estelle Tudor and find out more about her book, The Vein Severed, a historical fantasy that released in August 2025.

Helen: Welcome, Estelle. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I actually checked out your book, and I read it in Kindle Unlimited. You took me away from my editing, but I enjoyed the tragic story of Rosella and Lorcan and the dark world of vampires. You can read my review here. But on with the interview. Tell us about your latest book.

Estelle: My most recent book is called The Vein Severed and is a tragic yet hopeful love story featuring Lady Roselle Lamont and her husband Lorcan from whom she has been separated for a century.

It is a story of betrayal, secrets, and loss but their love still remains. When the century of punishment and enforced separation comes to an end, the pair must try to reconcile with the past all while yearning for a future together. It is an ensemble cast of vampires and witches and takes place at the turn of the century 1899/1900.

Helen: It is a great premise and tempted me to read it. I must admit I am enjoying it, even though you are not being very kind to Roselle! How did you come up with the cover? It gives me a vintage vibe, which goes with the passage of time.

Estelle: I had a vision for the cover in colours of deep red and gold and gave my cover designer – Juniper at Red Fox Creative – free rein to add elements that resonated. She incorporated a beautiful rose (for Lady Roselle) and the locket which plays an important role in the story. It came together beautifully and embodies the gothic vampire love story feel.

Helen: The cover works really well. Why did you give it that title? Is there a special meaning or back story about the title?

Estelle: The title is so important to me as I wanted this tale to be told in a lyrical and haunting way. The Vein Severed represents the cutting of Roselle’s lifeforce, the separation from her family, and then subsequently her new husband, all while enforcing her abstinence. Her life was severed, and now she must pay the price in blood.

Helen: It’s so interesting finding out the meanings behind the title. What made you want to write this particular book?

Estelle: I wanted to indulge myself in a truly lyrical haunting piece of writing. I wrote the first line and the rest just came. It decided it was to be a vampire story, but one that centred on love and the hope of release. I took my time with it, pouring so much of myself into it and giving myself free rein to indulge in my sometimes purple prose-y heart, that I was emotionally drained afterwards. I am so proud of it and love how it turned out.

Helen: It is beautifully written. Even though it is a dark subject, it feels light and fluid and reminds me of Mary Stewart and her wonderful prose. When did you realise you had a passion for writing?

Estelle:  At a young age actually. Books were always an escape for me, and when I discovered I could create my own tales and leave the worries of this world behind for a while it was so freeing and cathartic. I wrote from childhood until my early twenties, then had a long break to raise my four children. Returning to it seven years ago was like a homecoming. I picked up the pen again… and haven’t stopped. I now have 14 published novels under my belt, with many more sat on my computer.

Helen: Congratulations, that truly is a great achievement. The Vein Severed is dark fantasy. You mentioned you have fourteen books now, are they all fantasy?

Estelle: My brain is like a butterfly flitting from one idea to another, and so I write in multi-genres. My first publications were a five-book fantasy series for middle grade readers. My debut, Octavia Bloom and the Missing Key, won an award and saw it reaching the top ten of the Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year Awards! I then progressed to YA Romantasy and then on to various genres in the adult market. I have returned to my roots this year and will have a children’s short novel published in the autumn with American publishing house, Watchful Wizard Publishing.

Helen: How exciting! Is there an author who inspired you write?

Estelle: C. S. Lewis was my first inspiration. His Chronicles of Narnia books changed my life as a child and made me believe in the impossible and fantastic. Later on, Terry Pratchett and his sublimely witty Discworld series, gripped my teenage heart, then I fell into the romance genre and discovered the prolific Nora Roberts, who still inspires me to this day.

Helen: Some great inspiration. How do you get the ideas for your books?

Estelle: They come to me, often with a one-liner or an image, and then if it continues to shout loudly at me, then I will write it. I have a queue in my mind of characters and whichever one is most demanding wins haha.

Helen: Now you have a few books under your belt. What advice would you give new writers?

Estelle: I always say to write with your heart, but edit with your head. That first draft—that beautiful landscape of potential—is for you and you alone. Be brave, daring even, and say the words that swirl around your mind. Later on, you can be a tad more ruthless and prune back the brambles to reveal the true core of the story as you would want it to be seen by others.

Helen: Nice. Lets chat a little about how you write. Do you listen to music when you write, if so, what do you listen to and why?

Estelle: I adore listening to music while I write. I am an immersive writer, so epic cinematic soundtracks such as The Pirates of the Caribbean scores or The Lord of the Rings really helps me get into the feel of my worlds. I also like haunting artists such as Loreen, Fleurie, Amy Lee, and Enya too.

Helen: Oh We have similar tastes. I prefer instrumental music as well. What about research? That can be a bit of of a rabbit hole. How much research do you do for each book?

Estelle: Gah! I love research, and have multiple, multiple tabs open on my computer while writing. My most recent WIP is based on Welsh myth, legend, and folklore, so you can imagine the deep dives I have being doing on that! It has been a joy to celebrate my country Wales, and incorporate the history I fell in love with while I worked at Cardiff Castle before having my children.

Helen: I wish we had time to chat about Cardiff Castle, but we we’re here to talk about your writing, so… Are you a pantser or a planner? Do you write free form, or do you have a framework you stick to?

Estelle: I believe I am a Pantser in that I don’t write down a formal plan, however, I ‘plot’ in my head. I can see my scenes like movies inside my mind and let them percolate for a while just before sleeping or awakening. Once they have seeded in my mind, I then write and let it flow organically.

Helen: I know authors read a lot, so I am always looking for more recommnedations. What are some of the books you read recently that you would recommend to others?

Estelle: Recently, I have been immersed in Emma Bradley’s Faerie multi-series, while beta reading for writing friend Aerin Apeltun. Both have an immersive way of writing and drawing you in with witty side characters and romantic plots. I also loved The Wycherleys by Annaliese Avery and have the second one on hold at the library – looking forward to diving in to that!

Helen: Those are some great recommendations. Thank you so much for joining me today, it’s been lovely chatting to you. Just to finish, one last question: Every writer experiences self-doubt. How do you overcome the fear and the little voice in your head to keep writing?

Estelle: This is such a tough one to answer, but I feel very important. It doesn’t matter how many books I write, or how many awards or 5-star reviews, there will still be that niggling voice inside my head that taunts ‘you are not good enough’. But still I write… why? Because I have to. Writing chooses you, I believe. It is a drumbeat inside your heart that won’t be sated until you put pen to paper or open up that new draft. As a creative, it is an outlet to freedom, and while I am inside my worlds, that voice is drowned out. Just for a little while…

Helen: Thank you so much for all your great advice. You are inspirational. I wish you lots of success with your books.

Estelle: Thank you so much for having me – this was a lot of fun!

About the Author – Estelle Tudor

When not searching the backs of wardrobes for Narnia, the bottom of the garden for fairies or exploring yet another Castle, Estelle can be found with her nose in a book or a pen in her hand.

Having previously worked at Cardiff Castle, she now writes full time while looking after her four children.

She lives on the beautiful South Wales coast with her husband, children and crazy dog.

She loves to connect with her readers and can be contacted on http://www.estellegracetudor.com or via her Instagram page @through_the_fairy_door_books

Purchase The Vein Severed from Amazon:

UK: eBook | Paperback
USA: eBook | Paperback

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free copy of Sentinals Stirring

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.

Author Interview – Martin Owton

Fantasy Author

It’s time to meet Indie author, Martin Owton, and find out more about his dark fantasy books.

Helen: Welcome, Martin. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Could you tell us about your book, Shadows of Faerie?

Martin: Shadows of Faerie – is a contemporary fantasy set in Southampton and The New Forest. Some might call it urban fantasy, but a fair bit of it takes place in rural settings. The cover shows someone passing through one of the portals to the Otherkin world.

The blurb – “Faerie serial killers in the New Forest”
For centuries countrywomen in England have kept a secret; if you go to the right part of the woods and sing the right song, an Otherkin man will appear and be your lover. Charlie Somes, 24, postgraduate chemistry student at Southampton University, is the product of such a liaison and is touch telepathic; a gift which blights his life as he cannot control it.

When Charlie discovers his gift works on the recently dead he is forced to use it to avoid a murder charge and then when the bodies of women who have taken faerie lovers start turning up, Charlie is the only person who can stop the serial killers.

Helen: Oh, Southampton was my university haunting ground, so it’s exciting to see a book set in that area. Charlie is your protagonist. Tell us about him and how you came to write him.

Martin: Charlie Somes – 24 – only child of a single mother, working on his PhD in synthetic organic chemistry. Nice friendly guy, no-one knows he doesn’t like touching people because he is uncontrollably touch telepathic – a gift from the father he has never met. There’s a lot of me in Charlie. Like him I grew up in the Waterside area between the New Forest and Southampton Water and did a PhD in chemistry at Southampton. I’m not touch telepathic, but the chemistry that appears in the book is real.

Why did I write about him? His voice came to me very quickly when I was supposed to be writing something else. He sounded a lot more interesting and his voice stayed with me for the journey. I don’t plan out my novels and just let the plot logic lead me. I think it lead me to good places with this story. There is a strong police procedural element, and I was fortunate enough to have to have the assistance of a fantasy-reading Detective Sergeant neighbour to advise me.

Helen: You are so lucky to be able quiz a detective about procedures, and bonus, they love fantasy. Why did you start writing?

Martin: Because I can, and I’ve got good at it. My mother wrote too, mainly short stories, but didn’t like my first novel.

Helen: That’s a shame, but our books are not for everyone! It’s finding the readers who will enjoy it that is the challenge. I see that Shadows of Fairie is dark fantasy. Which genre do you typically write?

Martin: Mainly fantasy – evenly split between traditional secondary world (2 novels published, another 2 in progress) and contemporary (2 novels). I’ve also written a bit of SF, but because of my background I know too much science and that stifles me. Why fantasy?  I blame my hippie-chick teacher in the last year of junior school for reading the class The Hobbit for the last lesson on Friday afternoons. It caught me and has remained my favoured genre ever since. I enjoy the possibilities it offers.

Helen: What is the most useful piece of writing advice you’ve received?

Martin:  Fix it in the rewrite. It is sometimes the case that you don’t know what the true story is until you’ve reached the end of it. Then you may realise the main character is not who you thought it is, that you started in the wrong placeand you don’t need those 6 chapters in the middle. All of which you cannot know until you’ve finished the first draft. Nobody expects you to get it right first time. All my books have had rewrites. My agent made me rework “ Shadows of Faerie” three times.

Helen: Great advice. If you don’t get your story down to begin with, there will be nothing to edit. What is the best thing that has happened to you since you began writing? 

Martin: Gaining representation with a major fantasy agent. Regrettably this has not resulted in trade publishers buying my work. Shadows of Faerie did make it to one acquisition meeting though.

Helen: Getting an agent to represent you is an amazing achievement. Congratulations. Fingers crossed they find a home for your books. Do you have any advice for dealing with writer’s block? What do you do to overcome it? 

Martin: Two suggestions – take a minor character from your work-in-progress and write a short story with them as main character. Second, consider what could be the worst possible thing for your main character(s) to have happen. Have it happen and make them deal with it.

Helen: What are some of the books you read recently that you would recommend to others? 

Martin: The Green Man series by Juliet McKenna. Contemporary fantasy deeply rooted in British folklore. Protagonist is the son of a Dryad. First book – The Green Man’s Heir

The War For The Rose Throne – Peter McClean. Peaky Blinders with swords and magic. First book – Priest of Bones

The Mennik Throne series – Patrick Samphire. Renegade mage does fantasy detective noir. SPFBO finalist. First book – Shadow of a Dead God

The Sisters Mederos – Patrice Sarath.  Georgette Heyer with magic

Helen: Those are some great recommendations. Now you have a few books under your belt. What advice would you give new writers?

Martin: Read a lot, be aware of trends in your genre. Work with other writers and don’t be afraid of seeking critique. Other writers are not going to steal your ideas; they’ve got enough of their own. If any one person doesn’t like an aspect of your story feel free to ignore them (unless they are your agent/editor!), but if two or more people raise the same issue then pay attention. Critique in return. Identifying flaws in a story that doesn’t quite work will teach you a lot about your own writing and improve it.

Helen: Thank you so much for joining me today, it’s been great learning about your book. Was there anything anecdotal you’d like to share?

Martin: The words of Peter Lavery, editorial director of Pan MacMillan, to me. “Two things get you there; talent and persistence.”

About the Author – Martin Owton

Martin Owton

I was born in Southampton, Hampshire in 1958, and grew up on the edge of the New Forest. At the age of 13, I was lucky enough to win a county scholarship to Winchester College (1972-76). From there I went to St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge (1977-80) where I read Natural Sciences. I then went to Southampton University where I studied for a PhD in synthetic chemistry.

I spent two years as a post-doctoral fellow at St George’s Hospital Medical School in south London, where I met my wife Mary. We now live near Camberley in Surrey, where I work for the research division of a major international pharmaceutical company.

I have been writing seriously since 1995, and have had somewhere above 20 short stories published. I have also published 3 novels, two adventure fantasy novels Exile and Nandor (collectively the Nandor Tales) and one contemporary fantasy Shadows of Faerie.

Beside writing I follow cricket, and Southampton FC, and enjoy a good pub quiz.

Purchase Shadows of the Faerie from Amazon:

UK: eBook | Paperback
USA: eBook | Paperback

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free copy of Sentinals Stirring

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.

Author Interview – J.M. Tibbott

Author of the Pridden Saga series.

I was fortunate to meet fantasy author J.M. Tibbott at a writing group I attended, and I am very pleased to welcome her to my blog.

Helen: Welcome, JM. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Could you tell us about your Pridden Saga series, and the first book, The Arrival?

JM: The Arrival is the first book in My Pridden Saga series, and introduces Kat, my protagonist. She’s a rather feisty young woman, who hates to be controlled.

Kat, a brilliant video game designer with a desperate desire to control her own life is faced with the option of losing a job she adores. Sent on a forced vacation to adjust her attitude she is stunned to find herself in a strange tech-free world. Confused and lost all she wants is a fervent desire is to return home.

Promised aid by the local ruler she is horrified to be tasked with an assignment to aid in preventing a devastating war, but without clear instructions on how to achieve this.

Amid vicious creatures and enemies lurking around every corner she must defend against a villain with sinister plans to seize the power she has no idea she possesses.

Can Kat survive in a land hurtling towards destruction?

Helen: That sounds like a great adventure, and for a gamer to be stuck in a world without technology, I am sure that gave you plenty of opportunity for conflict! What were your thoughts behind the cover design?

JM: Although I have designed covers for other authors, when I sat down to do this for my first novel, I simply couldn’t come up with anything that pleased me, so I contacted a UK designer (Deranged Doctor Designs) and after answering a lot of questions about how I envisioned the appearance of my protagonist, they suggested the woman on the cover. I loved the picture they chose – the red hair, and the rather stubborn look to her face. I think in this first series I rather tended to see how I would act in the situation the book suggested.

Helen: The story behind the cover is always so interesting. What about the title? How did you decide what to call your book?

JM: I spent a lot of time on the titles of the books and since this is the one where Kat is thrust into a strange new world, “The Arrival” just seemed to make the most sense, because this was the first time Kat found herself on Pridden.

Helen: What made you write this particular book?

JM: I had been writing many short stories, and I knew I was ready to attempt a novel, so when I woke one day with an idea for a story, I was captivated, and although I only planned a single novel at the beginning, the ideas for expanding it, began to drench me with ideas, and so it turned into seven novels.

Helen: That is so wonderful when the ideas begin to flow. Congratulations on writing seven novels. When did you realise you had a passion for writing?

JM: I cannot remember a time when I didn’t love writing. At about the age of ten, I wrote strange plays, which I forced my sister to act in, and demanded my parents watch and pay a penny admission to view my efforts.

Helen: It’s nice that your creativity started young and you never lost it. What is the main genre you write, and who inspired you to start writing?

JM: I love writing high fantasy. My mother inspired me to read Sci-fi, and when I began to read Isaac Asimov, I was so entranced, I figured I could also do what he did.

Helen: If your main character, Kat, could tell us why to read your book, what would she say?

JM: I think Kat would say that we all have the opportunity to change, and even though she resists change, even she has managed to learn things from the odd life she is having to live on Pridden. Each book has changed her and made her a better person.

Helen: Are you a pantser or a planner? Do you write free form, or do you have a framework you stick to?

JM: I am definitely a planner, I have a very specific way of planning my books, something I was privileged to learn from john Truby

Helen: Do you need to do much research as part of your writing process?

JM: I initially began Book one, and stopped because my characters needed challenges, and I then spent two years designing the world. I spent enough time on it, and did enough research, that it was sufficient to help me with all the subsequent books in the Saga.

Helen: What is the best thing that have happened to you since you started writing?

JM: I actually like reading my own books.

Helen: I first wrote my books for me read, and I decided to publish them so I could read them as a book, instead of on my laptop! Thank you so much for joining me today. One last question. If you didn’t write in High Fantasy, then which genre would you like to try and write in next?

JM: I believe I would like to attempt to write a cosy fantasy.

About the Author – J.M Tibbott

J. M Tibbott

JM Tibbott has been writing since childhood, but The Pridden Saga is her first series of published novels. As a writer of magazine and newspaper articles, being an editor for an online news-letter, and a writing instructor, JM belongs to a community of local writers, all of whom are continually upgrading their own skills.

JM has been teaching writing skills for over ten years.

She is in the process of combining a collection of her short stories, which she expects to publish later in the year.

JM welcomes comments from her readers, and encourages them to visit her website, to which she will be shortly a blog, showing illustrations and information about the various creatures populating the world of Pridden.

JM declares — “If I could not write, I could not breathe,” which is similar to how her favorite author, Isaac Asimov, felt about his writing.

Follow J.M Tibbott:

Facebook

Purchase The Arrival from Amazon:

UK: eBook | Paperback
USA: eBook | Paperback

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free copy of Sentinals Stirring

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.

Author Interview – Cecilia Agetun

Author of the Freya’s Legacy series.

I am very pleased to welcome YA fantasy author Cecilia Agetun to my blog.

Helen: Welcome, Cecilia. It’s a pleasure to meet you and congratulations on the release of your latest book, Darkened Soul, on April 20th, 2025. Could you tell us about it?

Cecilia: My current book is Darkened Soul, book 3 in my Freya’s legacy series. It’s about revenge, but also about love and friendship.

Nick is determined to find out who ordered the attack that killed his wife and shattered his family. When he does, he retrieves a sword powerful enough to kill him. The only problem is that this sword was deemed to dangerous to be wielded, but it was too powerful to be destroyed so the dwarfs hid it away, hoping no one would ever find it again.

It is a bit darker than the previous two books in the series, but an important part of the overall arc of the series.

Freya’s Legacy is a YA Romantic contemporary Fantasy series comprised of four books, written with inspiration from Norse mythology. We follow Jax, a crow demon, on a journey of friendships, love and self acceptance.

I’m currently looking for ARC readers Darkened soul, so if you’re interested you can fill out this form:  https://forms.gle/hKQ7ZeYRN8g81oBU7

Helen: What were your thoughts behind the cover design?

Cecilia: The cover contains the image of the sword, named the Dauᵭans. It’s a very specific looking sword so I had my friend commission it for me. The cover also contains a flame that goes from blue to amber – it’s a symbolism for Nick’s journey throughout the book.

Helen: I love finding out about the story behind the cover. What about the title? How did you decide what to call your book?

Cecilia: The working title I had when I wrote the book was Nick’s revenge, but Darkened Soul fits so well, because Nick’s soul gets darkened by grief and depression, after he loses his wife which is a guardian angel. Due to this he does down a path that will darken his soul.

Helen: Who is your favourite character from your series?

Cecilia: I have a very close bond with Jax, maybe because he’s lived in my head for such a long time or maybe it’s because he’s trying to find his place and where he fits in. He’s a sweetheart, but because he’s not from the human world, he can come across a bit awkward and blunt. He is terrified of his own demon, and worried that if he loses control he will hurt the people he love and care about.

Helen: Jax sounds like a great character. Who is your protagonist and why did you write him/her?

Cecilia: So the protagonist for the overall series is Jax, this is his story, but each book follows a difference protagonist because knowing their past and how everything is connected helps understand their actions. Jax has been living in my head for the last 10 years so it only seemed natural to finally write down his journey.

Helen: I bet that was really satisfying writing Jax’s story. What are you working on next?

Cecilia: I’ve started gathering the notes I have for book 4, called Shadow love. I already know the rough story line but I haven’t really started writing it yet.

Helen: You write YA fantasy, why did you choose that genre?

Cecilia: I’m a fantasy writer because I like to escape the real would and live somewhere that isn’t defined by human logic. Where magic and mythical creatures is a possibility. I grew up having my granddad tell me stories about the Norse gods growing, and I’ve always had a vivid imagination. I even practiced Wicca in my younger days. Most of my stories are contemporary, because who to say the supernatural doesn’t exist in our world? There are so many myths and legends about magical things, that it seems illogical to discard them as completely fictional.

Helen: When did you realised you had a passion for writing?

Cecilia: I always loved stories and been daydreaming about other places ever since I was little. I wrote a lot during my teenage years, but I don’t remember if I ever finished them. I never really thought I had what it took to publish a book due to my dyslexia, but when lock down came around, I started writing again, and this time, due to internet and social media I connected with other writers, and they give me confidence that my stories were worth sharing with the world. so, after I finished writing my first story and spent two years editing it, I found a great editor that help polishing the technical aspect of writing and then I took a leap and published it.

Helen: How do you get ideas for a new book?

Cecilia: The easiest way to answer this is randomly. I can be walking the dogs, and maybe the sunlight hits the trees in a specific way, and a scenes is playing out in my head, or I wake up from a dream that lingers. And then the characters won’t go away, so I sit down and write down everything that comes to my head while thinking about the scenes or the character, and from there I usually get a starting point; who is the character and what do they want and then I start writing. Sometimes I know the ending before I finished writing, sometimes it comes while im writing, so I guess you can say I’m a bit of a pantser.

Helen: It’s been great talking about your books. Let’s talk a little about your writing process. Which elements of the writing process do you find most challenging and why?

Cecilia: I think the hardest part is converting the movie I have playing in my head into words, words that paint it in the right light. Having English as a second language (thought I’ve lived in the UK for 15 years) means that sometimes my vocabulary isn’t as large as I would like it to be, and my writing often comes out as quite basic. It isn’t necessary a bad thing, but my books should definitely be read for the story and not for beautiful prose.

Helen: When writing, do you plan everything in advance or do you make it up as you go? Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Cecilia: I’m definitely more of a pantser, however as I’m getting further and further into this series, I have needed to do a bit more plotting

Helen: I think as we learn more about the writing craft and our series become more complex, planning is key. Even if the characters sometimes takes us off road on occasion. When you encounter writer’s block how do you over come it?

Cecilia: I usually do one of two things. And it depends a bit on why I have writing block, if it’s because something isn’t working, and I need to figure out a solution I will usually step away and go for a walk. If it’s because I don’t know that’s next, I would try a writing sprint and just write the first thing that comes to mind for 20-30 min.

Helen: What is the best thing that have happened to you since you started writing?

Cecilia: I’ve connected with an amazing community online, and found some lovely friends. But the best thing is probably when I hear from readers and they’re telling me that my story made a difference to them. It really does make my day, and gives me encouragement to continue writing.

Helen: What is one of the most useful resources you use when writing?

Cecilia: So if we are talking specifically about writing, it’s probably the emotion thesaurus by A Ackerman and B Puglisi, its really helpful when trying to show an emotion instead of telling it. Other than that I find brainstorming with other writers very helpful. Sometimes as I writer I’m a bit too close to my story, and my writing can comes across differently from what I want, so brainstorming how to get the message across more clearly can be very beneficial.

Helen: Those thesauruses are amazing! I use them all the time. Do have any hints or tips for how to overcome the fear and little voice in your head and keep writing?

Cecilia: It’s really hard, but the biggest advice I have is to not compare yourself to other writers. It’s a sure way of getting disheartened. Instead look back at your own journey, celebrate your accomplishments and milestones, and see just have far you have come and have much you have gained since you started.

Helen: That is really great advice. How much research do you do for each book?

Cecilia: It differs. I will write the first draft without any research, and then as I read over it I will make notes where I need to do more research.

Helen: It’s been great talking to you today. I wish you all the very best with your launch. Just to close, what advice would you give new writers?

Cecilia: Rules are meant to be broken, take what you need, and leave the rest behind. Try new things, but if it isn’t working for you, try something else. There are many way to reach a destination.

There are sooo many rules about writing, but most of the times they are not actually rules but suggestions. E.g. you have to write everyday to be a good writer – no you don’t have to write every day but you do need to make time to write. Or you have to outline before you can write the book – I can see how it can be beneficial, but my outline comes after I’ve written my first draft.

About the Author – Cecilia Agetun

Cecilia Agetun

Cecilia has always been interested in writing and spent many hours writing poems and short stories throughout her teenage years. She has always had an interest in fantasy, mythology and witchcraft.

As she grew up, her writing got put on ice as she followed her other passion – Animal care. She moved to England, where she completed her Bsc (hons) degree in veterinary nursing and started working full time at a 24 hour hospital. She later moved to Cambridge with her partner and two dogs, hoping to get a better work- life balance.

It wasn’t until the lockdown came knocking on everyone’s doors that she picked up her writing and fell in love with it all over again. It started off as one book, but by the time she finished the first draft of her young adult fantasy novel, she knew it would be a series.

Follow Cecilia:

Amazon Author Page
Instagram

Purchase Darkened Soul from Amazon:

UK: eBook | Paperback
USA: eBook | Paperback

As an Amazon Associate I may benefit from purchases made using these links.

If you enjoy epic fantasy then check out my award winning Sentinal series, which is now complete. If you like fantasy books with a touch of romance then you will love my SoulMist series, start with SoulBreather. Prefer Dystopian Science Fantasy? Then try Harmony. Start the adventure and stay for the journey.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free novella called Sentinals Stirring and get notified when my next books are published.

Sign up to my newsletter and download a free copy of Sentinals Stirring

By clicking the sign up button above, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and the newsletter platform provider to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receive commercial information from Helen Garraway, located at 61 Bridge St, Kingston, Hertfordshire, UK (Data Administrator). You can withdraw your consent at any time. The data will be processed until the consent is withdrawn.